The World Cup Logo. Again.

Opposition to the logo – and the less than democratic way it was chosen – has mounted since President Lula unveiled it two months ago in South Africa. (See more in my Financial Times piece of July 22.)

João de Souza Leite, a leading figure in the Brazilian Association of Graphic Designers, told me he found the logo (pictured left) “unfinished, not well drawn, and distorted.”

I quite liked it when it came out, although I thought it a bit simple, as I said in this post back when it was revealed.

But wth his designers eye, Leite pointed out how the design was poorly done and out of proportion.

“All symbols obey a creation of a concept,” he told me. “We analyse the event, the company, the business and we build a concept to express that visually. The second thing is the quality, it is very childish.”

Leite compared this design to a not dissimilar one for the World Basketball Championships (pictured right).

“You just need to look at the basketball one to see a symbol that is well drawn,” he said. “Comparing the two, you can see what is a good design and a bad design. The World Cup one has no identity.”

The Copa2014 web site has launched a competition to find an alternative but no one should hold their breath. Just like London, which created a horrific logo for the 2012 games, local organisers won’t back down.

2 comments

I like it. With deference to his expertise, I disagree with the graphic design expert. It looks less “corporate” than the basketball one and that’s a good thing. And it represents green and yellow people. What’s not to like?

I like it and I think it’s cool. With all necessary deference to the graphic design expert, I think it’s better than the basketball logo in part bc it reads as far less “corporate” and that’s a good thing. Secondly, I like that its colors are minimal. And of course it represents all the green and yellow people; you can’t ask for more.